How marketers can succeed in India’s digital-first economy
As 2023 kicks into gear, Adobe India's marketing director, Anindita Veluri, shares insights into the trends shaping the nation's marketing strategies and business success this year and into the future.
Adobe India marketing director Anindita Veluri shares insights into this year's trends
As the world continues to evolve and move towards all things digital, there is a sea of change in business strategies triggered by a change in consumer behaviour that has increasingly become driven by individual preferences. As we begin 2023, marketers need to reflect and recalibrate their consumer engagement strategies to be attuned to address the growing needs of such a discerning consumer.
Marketing is the CEO - chief experience officer
Change is coming. With the rise of CX as a key competitive differentiator, marketing as a function has established itself as a critical owner of experience strategy and business success. Marketers today are key contributors to growth, with mature, digital-first organisations already realising the need for the function to be at the core of strategic decision-making and more boardroom presence.
In 2023, we’ll see this trend go mainstream as organisations of all shapes and sizes continue to prioritise CX as a key part of their growth agenda. The modern marketer will keep the customer at the core of its strategy, use data as its fuel and infuse experiences across each interaction, creating a hyper-personalised eco-system that fuels success across every part of the customer journey.
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Humanising the connect - marketing with purpose
There was a time when consumers wanted businesses to come across as professional and formal. That has already undergone a seismic change over the past few years and will continue to intensify further in 2023. Consumers want to see the brand's human side and how you value them as individuals. As more data sources permeate and become intrinsic parts of marketing strategies, it will be critical for brands to remember that marketing is as much an art as it is a science. Establishing an emotional connection with the consumer has never been more important for brands.
It is only once the foundations of trust based on shared purpose are established that measurement metrics can reflect results. Therefore, it will be critical for brands to balance metric-driven attributions with non-metric-driven actions. For instance, during the pandemic, Nippon India Mutual Funds created a more ubiquitous, personalized digital engagement strategy, helping reshape some financial services not normally associated with young consumers. They executed this by making complex financial services friendly for consumers, creating fast and easy-to-connect experiences while showcasing the long-term value. All this, coupled with a cross-channel experience, connected well with the Indian youth around themes of saving, investing, and building new wealth.
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Embracing a culture of experimentation
We live in a world that thrives on constant change and evolution. For marketers to stay ahead of the curve and deliver to the consumers of today, there is a persistent need to experiment, innovate and adapt to the latest technologies to curate experiences that not only deliver razor-sharp messaging but ones that also delight in doing so!
As immersive experiences grow in prominence, marketers will need to don their experimenter’s hat and push the boundaries of creative imagination backed by the immense potential of technologies such as Generative AI, Metaverse and Web 3.0. Some brands are already taking the lead with metaverse and devising roadmaps to monetize this space based on their learnings. The experiments focused on fusing the digital universe with the physical world will only help in improving a brand's interaction and touchpoints with its consumers. For example, the way Nike has deployed technological innovation, such as the outdoor 3D billboards to bring alive the entire design inspiration process for their products, has been well received by audiences globally.
Finally, learn to unlearn
Today, marketing as a function is evolving rapidly and constantly – hence to thrive in today’s accelerated world requires adopting a learner’s mindset - embracing the natural discomfort that comes from letting go of the old and mastering the new.
Marketing mindset today is all about proactively navigating the maze of constantly changing consumer expectations, keeping up with new technology trends and constantly challenging their thinking. The marketer's role will need to involve efficient decision-making, collaborative creative processes, constant experimentation, and personalised and purposeful impact.
As the futurist Alvin Toffler wrote: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
Anindita Veluri is the director of marketing at Adobe India.